Re: B5: Legend of the Rangers

Ξ”Ο…ΟƒΟ„Ο…Ο‡ΟŽΟ‚ έτσι Ξ±ΞΊΟΞΉΞ²ΟŽΟ‚ Ρίναι.


Demetrius Kiminas wrote:
> To exete dei afto? To akoloutho review ekfrazei kai ta dika mou
> aisthimata gia to sygkekrimeno aborted pilot (dystixos).
>
> *Spoiler free section*
>
> Anybody who has read my previous reviews for the Babylon 5 Movies and
> Crusade will be aware that I'm a bit of a fan of the Babylon 5 universe. By
> plotting out a 5 year series from the beginning, creator J. Michael
> Straczynski was able to create epic plotlines with great payoffs for long
> term viewers. Though the acting in B5 could sometime be a little hammy, the
> FX a little too "what my brother could have done on his PC in the den", and
> the plotlines a tad too melodramatic at times, that was all part of the fun
> of the series.
>
>     However, after Crusade was cut midway through its first season after
> only a handful of episodes (barely enough to establish the central
> characters, let alone start working on the rest), this seems to have been a
> bit of a hit to Straczynski's confidence. In a last ditch effort to
> resuscitate the franchise, Straczynski conceived of a tale about a band of
> misfit Rangers whose tales would fill in the gaps where B5 and Crusade could
> no longer go. This series would be entitled - Legend of The Rangers.
>
>     The pilot of this series is the topic of this review - the enigmatically
> (and perhaps also embarrassingly) titled To Live And Die In Starlight. Given
> that this pilot came and went on TV with such brevity that many B5 fans
> weren't even aware of it, you probably already have some idea about how well
> this show hung together. I sat down to this with trepidation that, it turns
> out, was well deserved.
>
> (Plot synopsis goes here -- tin metefera sto telos giati periexei mild
> spoilers)
>
> Okay, after typing that plot synopsis I have to suppress an involuntary
> shudder.
>
>     Urgh.
>
>     Composure.
>
>     Composure.
>
>     Okay, if, somewhere out there in cyberspace, Straczynski is reading this
> review, I just have one question for him: "What the fuck?" Some may find my
> query a tad impolite, even vulgar, and you're entitled to that opinion. All
> I can say is, that was the first phrase out of my mouth after this show had
> run its 90-odd minute course, followed in more detail by: "What the fuck was
> with the dialogue in this show, like teenagers spouting clichΞΉd one-liners
> that sounded cool when they were four? What the fuck was with the acting,
> like a collection of cardboard cut-outs ham fisting their way through a set?
> What the fuck was with the haunted ship? And most of all, what the fuck was
> with that horrible, horrible, horrible scene where Cantrell kicks and
> punches and yells in her VR weapons environment like Astroboy firing laser
> bolts out of his arse? The whole concept of such a physically exertive
> weapons system makes no sense in the first place, but the yelling and
> kicking like an autistic child having a fit of rage was so horrendously
> childish I spent the whole thing cringing. Straczynski, as a long time fan,
> I was embarrassed for you, man. And embarrassed for poor Ms Syrois as well.
> Truly, truly embarrassed."
>
>     This show is a clunker. It makes Halle Berry's attempt at Catwoman look
> fabulous. It makes Madonna's efforts in Swept Away look like Oscar material.
> For B5 fans, think of the worst, absolute worst, episode of that show and
> multiply it by 10 and you're coming close to the truly bad badness of this
> schlockfest. You will cringe. You will shudder. You will snort with the
> occasional chuckle of laughter at just how bad some of the dialogue is. And
> then you will thank the studios for never throwing another dollar this
> show's way.
>
>     Though unfair to compare To Live And Die In Starlight to more modern
> science fiction like the new series of Battlestar Galactica and Stargate
> (both original and Atlantis flavour), this show isn't all that old by
> comparison and yet the difference in quality is truly staggering. Hell,
> Crusade was miles ahead of this and was its contemporary. I really just
> don't know what on earth Staczynski was thinking, if anything.
>
>     I'm being harsh, I'm sure - harsher than I ordinarily would on a show of
> this type. But for me, this was a betrayal of the legacy of a show that was
> a landmark of its time, and I feel somehow stabbed in the back by
> Straczynski who bothered to take this to the producers after presumably at
> least reading his own script through once. So disappointed.
>
>     My advice: run, don't walk, and hide from this show. Pretend it never
> happened. Purge it from your mind. It was all just a horrible, horrible,
> embarrassing nightmare...
>
> Kai edo akolouthei the plot synopsis. Periexei poly mikra spoilers
>
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> To Live And Die In Starlight tells the tale of a rag tag group of Rangers,
> those cloak wearing bow-staff toting spies that act as the intelligence arm
> of the Interstellar Alliance. Outcast for fleeing from a battle in the face
> of certain death, and retaining status as Rangers only by virtue of an
> intervention by G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas), these misfits are instead given
> their own ship - a barely functioning haunted rust-bucket, and sent as an
> escort on a secret diplomatic mission. The crew is composed of:
>
> human David Martell (Dylan Neal), square jawed pretty boy who looks like
> (and acts like) he's straight from The Bold And The Beautiful, and also the
> leader of the bunch;
>
> Minbari commander Dulann (Alex Zahara), an enigmatic but slightly more
> pragmatic Minbari than usual with subtle telepathic gifts;
>
> human weapons specialist Sarah Cantrell (Myriam Syrois), another human with
> some great overacting ... but not much more;
>
> Narn engineer, Na'Feel (Jennie Rebecca Hogan);
>
> Minbari healer, Firell (Enid-Raye Adams);
>
> Drazi security officer, Tafeek (David Storch); and
>
> human intelligence officer, Sasaki (Warren T. Takeuchi).
>
>     But when the diplomatic mission is ambushed by a new and deadly enemy,
> known only as The Hand, these misfits must band together in order to survive
> and keep the remaining delegates alive.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>   



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